WACO - With homebuilding booming and progress continuing on high-profile projects such as Baylor University’s $260 million football stadium, the Waco area saw its construction employment swell by 600 jobs during the past year, according to the Texas Employment Commission. The jobless rate in the Waco MSA, which includes all of McLennan County, dipped to 5.8 percent in October, down from 6 percent in September and 5.9 percent a year ago.

“That’s the lowest since October of 2012,” said Kris Collins, senior vice president of economic development for the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce. The Waco Metropolitan Statistical Area lost 400 manufacturing positions during the year.

An estimated 109,600 people held jobs in McLennan County in October — a drop of 900 people from September and virtually the same as the total for October a year ago, according to non-seasonally adjusted figures from the Texas Employment Commission and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Though fewer people are working, the jobless rate declined because the civilian labor force — the unemployed and employed combined — has dropped. The Bureau of Labor statistics defines the unemployed as those actively pursuing work. That figure dipped from 7,100 in September to 5,800 in October.